The Vortab Company Vortab Elbow Flow Conditioner

Process and plant engineers who can’t find room for the recommended straight pipe run required by liquid flow meters in their municipal water treatment plant retrofit projects will find the Vortab Elbow Flow Conditioner eliminates the problem by removing swirl and asymmetric velocity profiles caused by pumps, valves and other equipment placed too close to the meter.

The flow conditioner nearly eliminates flow meter upstream piping requirements by conditioning the flow stream into a flow regime, mimicking adequate straight run. In addition to conditioning the flow stream, the 90° angle tab-type flow conditioner eliminates the pipe cost and technician labour for the 5–10 upstream and 3–5 downstream pipe diameters required by many types of flow metering technologies.

The product isolates the flow irregularities and conditions the flow stream into a swirl-free and symmetrical velocity profile. Swirl reduction and velocity profile correction occur naturally in long lengths of straight pipe due to diffusion and turbulent mixing. Vortab’s anti-swirl and inclined vortex generating profile correction tabs, projecting from the inside pipe surface, generate vortices that accelerate these natural pipe effects to create a uniform, non-swirling, symmetrical flow profile in a shorter section of pipe.

The simple, flexible design provides a solution to crowded installations for flow meters and other critical process equipment. Vortab provides effective flow disturbance isolation, low pressure drop and claims to be the least affected by fouling of any of the flow conditioners available.